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Getting permission from the landowner

I have a question for those who have placed caches. Do you really get landowner permission? If it's on City/State owned land, do you get permission from "Parks & Rec" or the park manager like you probably should?

This is one thing that has troubled me for awhile about this hobby. I don't want to be tromping around somewhere I'm not supposed to be. Nor do I want to be bothering/disturbing land and causing damage by being one of a hundred geocachers who go through to the cache.

I have a feeling that for the most part, people do not get permission from anyone to place a cache, and the thought of that bothers me for some reason. Maybe I am way wrong here, just an observation/question.

I've always wondered the same thing...Perhaps thats why I'm hesitant to seek out a cache site of my own. I fear stepping on someones "toes" or getting a denial when asking for permission... Some of the public accesses aren't the greatest places to hide a cache either.. From experience, I'm very disappointed to find such nice places getting trashed far back into the woods, which makes it an unpleasant trek when hunting for a cache. You never know what nasty stuff you're apt to step in....

JMHO

Silva, of the forest

Beneath you, feel the Earth.Above you, feel the Sky.Around you, feel the presence and the Power of the Trees!

Well...

Personally, I wouldn't dream of placing a cache in someone else's backyard without getting permission. As far as public lands...I think the permission should still be received from the people who maintain the land/park/etc. However, your question brings to light an interesting thought...

Just how many backyards have I danced across on the way to a cache, where the appropriate permission has NOT be granted? Should I email each owner prior to visiting their cache just to make sure?

Maybe people think that if it's a regular size cache, they need permission, but if it's just a micro then it's just little and won't hurt anything. Don't they realize that the same traffic/feet will be looking for it either way? The same number of trees, plants, and flowers will get trampled during the quest, especially if the coords are off!

The last time I asked permission to place a cache in a town park, Buxton Salmon Falls, across and a little down river from Gareth's Birthday Cache I got the following answer....

"We get enough traffic in this little park, it's our town jewell and we dont need or want any more out-o-towners tromping around here gps'n looking for whatever. I (the park caretaker) have enough to do without havn' to look after geowhatevers (geocachers) too.

I was really surprised with the answer. The park, which is very nice and has a lot of swimming spots, was a state park that the state gave to the town because it couldnt maintain it. Then to have a caretaker treat me like that, I really didnt want to place one there.

Now I stick to placing them on state owned land or propety such as Hancock lands.

Don't ask, don't tell

Permission should be asked for placing a cache on any private property unless it is clear that the public are unconditionally welcome (e.g., the Northern Maine woods).

Permission should be asked for placing a cache that requires you to cross any private property.

Public property is fuzzier. If there is any sense that it is an ecologically sensitive place that does not encourage public access (e.g., the sand dunes at Reid State Park, wildflower preserves with signs saying not to leave the path), than I wouldn't even try to place one.

For public property where access is universally encouraged and it is unlikely that your cache would damage the property (e.g., any kind of public land with hiking trails, parking lots, picnicking, hunting, fishing, etc.) then I think placing it without asking permission is ok. I think that common sense should dictate, but you often will not get a common sense response if you ask. So I don't think you should be asking permission for most public land caches. Kind of like a don't ask, don't tell policy.

I think geocaching will suffer much more if public land managers are forced to make an official policy decision than having the occasional manager ask you to remove it.

For public property where access is universally encouraged and it is unlikely that your cache would damage the property (e.g., any kind of public land with hiking trails, parking lots, picnicking, hunting, fishing, etc.) then I think placing it without asking permission is ok. I think that common sense should dictate, but you often will not get a common sense response if you ask. So I don't think you should be asking permission for most public land caches. Kind of like a don't ask, don't tell policy.

I think geocaching will suffer much more if public land managers are forced to make an official policy decision than having the occasional manager ask you to remove it.

A verf good summation. As I've said before: I'm a Municipal Officer, and I think that if we were asked if one could place a cache on Town property, we'd probably say "no" - liability concerns and all that. But if one were placed on Town property, and we just happened to find out about it, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't go running out to remove it or call the State Police to arrest a cacher.

All my caches (six, I think) are either on State or publically accessable paper company lands.